Cressida Bonas was said to have loathed being photographed while dating Prince Harry.

“Imagine how you would feel if every time you stepped out of your door ordinary people started pointing mobile phone cameras at you,” a friend said at the time, citing it as a reason for their break-up.

When the person wielding the camera is Mario Testino and the pictures are for Vanity Fair, the idea suddenly becomes more appealing. Miss Bonas, 25, was happy to be snapped in the street while modelling Burberry for the magazine’s International Best-Dressed List.

She was shortlisted but failed to make the final cut – unlike the Duchess of Cambridge, who earned a place in the Hall of Fame category alongside designer Karl Lagerfeld.

This is a first magazine photoshoot for Miss Bonas, an aspiring actress. Testino is one of the world’s most renowned fashion photographers, and his picture of Diana, Princess of Wales famously graced the cover of Vanity Fair in 1997.

Vanity Fair also has an “Originals” section for well-dressed individuals who don’t fit a particular mould. Those chosen include Donna Tartt, the author who favours androgynous dressing, and the King of Bhutan.